I heard a soft footstep behind me in the doorway.

I did not turn around immediately.

I knew the sound of those boots.

“Did you find it?” Vance asked from the shadow of the hall.

“Yes,” I said.

“They didn’t even know it was here,” I added.

“They thought they were just hiding money,” Vance said.

“They had no idea what they actually had,” he added.

“They never did,” I said.

I turned to face him, slipping the drive into my jacket pocket.

“We need to get this to the secure terminal at Fort McPherson,” I said.

“The transmission is scheduled for midnight,” I added.

Vance looked at his watch.

“We have forty minutes,” Vance said.

“The storm is getting worse,” he added.

We walked out of the study and into the foyer.

The house felt empty now, the silence heavy and suffocating.

The Monroe family empire was gone, dismantled in less than an hour.

But the real threat was still out there.

I opened the heavy oak front door.

The wind caught it, slamming it against the wall.

The rain poured down in sheets, washing over the stone steps.